Boring isn't working: Inside Elon Musk's Vegas Loop

Elon Musk's Boring Company has been hard at work on its Vegas Loop transportation system for years, and it's now in operation in 10 stations — including two at the city’s Harry Reid International Airport.

Well, kind of in operation. While the Loop operates a system of tunnels connecting the Las Vegas Convention Center to multiple hotels, its tunnel to the airport is not yet open. So the Loop’s service to Harry Reid is ... a human-driven Tesla, driving on surface streets rather than tunnels.

YouTuber Ray Delahanty, who goes by the moniker CityNerd, recently visited the Loop — and the resulting video highlighted what he called the "farce" of its airport stations, as well as a lack of signage directing riders. 

What is the Loop?

The Loop opened five years ago, whisking people around the convention center in human-driven Teslas traveling in single-lane tunnels dug by the Boring Company (which, like Tesla, is owned by Elon Musk). The initial three-station, $47 million Loop (that's the cost quoted by the Boring Co.; other reports indicate it was closer to $52 million) was paid for by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, which is funded by hotel bed taxes; the LVCVA also covers $5 million in annual maintenance.

The stations are paid for by the casinos (and airport), with future tunnels paid for by the Boring Company. Currently, the system operates five stations at the convention center, two at the airport, and stops at Encore, Westgate, and Fontainebleau resorts, with tickets costing between $6 and $12.

When the Loop is finally complete, the Boring Company envisions 155 mph travel through 68 miles of tunnels and 104 stations — with riders driven by autonomous vehicles carrying 90,000 passengers an hour — a dubious number that would require every Vegas resident and visitor to use it multiple times a day. Currently the system carries around 1 million riders annually, or little more than 114 people an hour.

What’s the issue with the Loop?

At stations like the one at the Fontainebleau resort, Teslas exit Boring tunnels and then enter the Fontainebleau parking garage, just like any other car. The airport stations, which opened in December 2025, travel on surface streets for the entire five-mile route to the convention center.

The Boring Company is currently digging the underground tunnel to the airport and plans to open it before the year is out, according to Delahanty’s Loop driver.

The biggest problem with the stations? Not the inconsistency of the underground routes or the fact that the narrow tunnels only allow travel in one direction. It's how difficult it is for passengers to even find the stations (a problem that has bedeviled the Las Vegas Monorail).

Neither the casinos nor the airport offer signage to the stations. The stations themselves often lack amenities like seating or, as Delahanty discovered, working escalators.

To make matters worse, some of the few riders using the Loop were confused about how to access the vehicles (cars are requested via an app, like Uber or Lyft), leading to awkward encounters.

After some trial and error, Delahanty summoned a car at the airport and got a ride to the convention center for an unbeatable $12 — a fraction of the price of an Uber, Lyft, or taxi. The drivers also seemed friendly and willing to help customers, at least in Delahanty’s video.

While the Boring Company didn’t respond to our questions about Delahanty’s gripes, we did follow-up with the urbanist YouTuber on his Loop experience. Here's our conversation, edited for clarity and brevity.

It seemed like one of the biggest problems with the Loop is the shortage of information on how to ride and locate stations. Did riders appear confused or familiar with the Loop’s protocols?

My experience was that a few of the riders appeared familiar with how the system works — as if they'd used it before — but most seemed confused about how to know when and which arriving vehicle was supposed to pick them up. Some of the riders seemed confused about how to buy a ticket and order a ride, although this seems pretty clear to me once you manage to find the station.

There is no Boring tunnel connecting to the airport yet, so why is the company offering a $12 airport service?

I really don't know why they've elected to start providing this service before the connecting tunnel, which is supposed to be complete by the end of 2026. It really functions like a typical Uber/Lyft ride, just one you have to go to an unmarked location on an airport concourse sublevel to use.

The LVCVA is subsidizing the tunnels and maintenance. What do you think it should have used that money for?

When they initially did a call for proposals, it was for a people mover of some sort to connect the far-flung halls on the Las Vegas Convention Center campus. Think an internal airport tram at a major airport hub like Atlanta, Dallas, or Denver, or even Las Vegas! — that is probably what they should've been building.

Instead, the Boring Company came in with the low bid. I'm not privy to how the project pencils out for the Boring Company. My guess is, on a project level they are way, way, way in the red, but they saw the Vegas Loop project as research and development, so they were willing to take a loss.

You mentioned that no one seems to be loudly criticizing the Loop’s shortcomings. Do you expect its expansion to continue without resistance from officials?

So far, all the funding is coming out of hotel room taxes and private contributions from resorts. If there comes a point where the City or County are spending public funds that could've been spent on public transit or any number of other public goods, then the political calculus changes. [Boring has made a deal with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, for a station on campus, with costs covered by the company.]

What is it like to actually ride in the Loop?

It's like riding an Uber or a Lyft that occasionally uses a narrow, brightly colored tunnel. I'm not a claustrophobic person, but I wouldn't wish the experience on someone who was.